I Am Boleyn: The Voice That Hypnotized Us All
Brave, unapologetic and artistically gifted UK native I Am Boleyn has captured the hearts of music lovers.
Raw, mesmerizing talent has become harder to find as the internet keeps producing tens of thousands of new independent acts who struggle to achieve widespread relevance; However, every once in a while a truly special artist cuts through the noise, reminding listeners exactly what it is they love about music, in this case, we should look no further than I Am Boleyn.
The UK native has worked hard to polish her captivating style, championed by a voice that hypnotizes and transports you to another dimension.
Her new single “Limit of Love” is a powerful blend of inspiration and melancholic sweetness with a music video that boasts impactful visuals and a seamlessly integrated audiovisual storytelling format.
A strong force of femininity herself, I Am Boleyn models her stage name after the famous second wife of Henry VIII of England, Anne Boleyn. The infamous Queen of England was known for her controversial aggressive and calculative behavior for a woman in the 16th century. Inspired by the Queen’s early feminist-like legacy, I Am Boleyn pays homage, using Anne’s last name. But to her close friends and family, she goes by Lydia.
We caught up with this rising star and asked her a couple of questions:
What was your first major break in music?
I Am Boleyn: So I was writing at Sony/ATV Music Publishing with a friend of mine in London and I put vocals on a track and he had it on any show reel and he sent the show reel out. And actually he was pitching this song, he wasn't pitching me on it, but one of the people that he sent it out to ran a record label in the UK and then got in touch and was like, 'I really love this girl's voice.' But I had done a lot of gigging and stuff. I used to play at Ronnie Scott's in London. We had a residency there for a while which was awesome. It was a really, really great place to practice new songs and stuff. It always had a really interesting crowd of people, because people know that they're going to hear new music. So I'd done a lot of performing particularly in London, also a little bit in New York too. It was one of those things where it's like I'd been performing and writing, for like a couple of years and then it's sort of interesting, like one thing with Sony/ATV that wasn't even intentional that was the thing that started it all off.
What’s your song-writing process like?
I Am Boleyn: I write all my songs in Stockholm, Sweden with a production collective called FMLY Sthlm. They produce, mix and master all my tracks. So I spend time there writing. I think that’s why I love going to Stockholm to write because when I’m at home it’s really difficult to switch off because you’re constantly thinking about what you have to do later or whether you should see someone or whatever. But in Stockholm I literally know only the three people I write with and nobody else so I can just really zone in and focus on songs I want to write. Normally it starts with a lyric idea like a theme and I build it from there.
It’s very difficult to write a song about love. We thought about a different way of looking at love. The question Limit of Love asks is, ‘What would you find out about someone else or what is there in yourself that you’re trying to keep secret that might be the limit of the love in a relationship?’ Obviously if you want to really give yourself to someone and let them love you then you have to tell them things that maybe you’re not proud of. It’s like that last little bit of yourself that you have to give over.
How has it been navigating the business side of the music industry with choosing a label?
I Am Boleyn: I'm taking meetings with lots of different people, some here in the states hopefully to license some stuff too. And then some in the UK. It's really interesting because different labels have different things to offer. You know, they have different ways of pitching their artists and dealing with their artists. I mean Polydor is really an amazing label. They have tons of artists that I really love. They're part of Universal.
It's a great time to be a musician because there are so many options. Like, you can go try and get a major label deal or you can do an independent label or you can just do Spotify which means that you can just do stuff yourself. I have lots of friends who are great musicians who were just like, 'I'm just going to do the whole thing myself,' which is kind of crazy. You can do that now.